A Nova Scotia man who shot a young, Black co-worker with a nail gun has received a conditional sentence from a judge who cited the province’s history of racism in his decision.
Provincial court Judge Del Atwood said Friday construction worker Shawn Wade Hynes will serve his sentence in the community and carry out community service with a focus on respect in the workplace.
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Atwood ordered him to pay $2,080 in restitution to the victim, Nhlanhla Dlamini, and gave Hynes one year probation.
The Trenton, N.S., resident was convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon in September 2019 for shooting Dlamini – who is in his 20s – with a framing nailer at a construction site in Abercrombie, N.S., on Sept. 19, 2018.
Dlamini suffered a punctured lung from the 3.5-inch nail and was unable to work for over a month.
Atwood noted in his sentence of Hynes, who is white, that “anti-Black discrimination is a historic fact that is continuing.”
